Chapter 19 by Zeebop

What Does Lois See?

Naked Women Chained To The Wall

There were four of them, in a row following the natural curve of the wall. Heavy iron collars about their necks, chained to the wall with massive iron nails like railroad spikes. Naked, they huddled as close together as they could be for warmth. Four pairs of tired, hollow eyes looked at the reporter.

Lois Lane stopped in her tracks. She knew those faces, though they were thinner and smeared with grime. Names came to her: Diana Reynolds, Tonya Wong, Mara de la Cruz, and Jenny Dunlap. These were the women Lois had come to find...maybe to save.

Then a bolt of pain through the reporter's abdomen brought her to the ground.

On her knees, Lois Lois wasn't even able to scream. Her guts were on fire. Something hard seemed to grind at the deepest part of her. The agony put every fiber of her being on alert, and in her head Cave Lois howled in frustration, ancient impulses telling Lois to do contradictory things. Except there was no enemy to fight, and nowhere to run to.

Chains clanked as the nearest of the women drew closer. The chain snapped taut, but Diana Reynolds reached out as far as she could...and snagged the reporter's wrist. Every muscle in the young woman's body strained as she dragged the prostrate reporter closer, using only her fingertips...until Lois was close enough that the other women could grab on and help.

"Go through her pockets," Tonya Wong said. "She has to have a cellphone, or food...maybe something to get these chains off..."

Hands grabbed at the reporter. She was buffeted about, unable to fight back as they rifled through her jacket and pants, emptied her pockets...and then the hands pulled at her shirt and Jenny Dunlap gasped.

"Holy shit, she's..."